The boy who slew a giant whose sculpture, made by Michelangelo, occupies an iconic place in the history of art – David. Before David became a King or the slayer of Goliath, he was just a boy from Bethlehem.  Destiny and fate played a vital role in his ascension to the throne. Understanding the complexities of his character is crucial to understanding this towering figure of ancient times. We also have to take the  socio-political context of Israel into account. Both indulgences can be satiated by discussing  his rise to the throne. However, before delving  any further, it is essential to recognize that  ancient history is full of fables and mysteries. We shall mainly follow the Hebrew Bible  for a clean and exciting narrative. To understand David’s “greatness,”  one must define the term. Here, we shall talk about greatness in a broadly moral or even somewhat religious manner,  and according to the Old Testament,  he was destined for this greatness.

Through our brief journey, we shall chance upon not only David’s mercy,  courage, and ambition but also his disdain for  betrayal, cowardice, and defiance of God’s will. According to the Israelites’ records, the man who had the authority to identify the future king was Israel’s last judge, Samuel. Both a military leader and God’s prophet, Samuel had chosen King David’s predecessor, Saul. However, Saul had fallen out of God’s favor, so while he was still king, God told Samuel to find a new leader.

The restless prophet followed God’s instructions and went to a small village called Bethlehem. Here, Samuel was tasked with finding the sons of Jesse, for one of them was to be the king. Here, he saw the shepherd’s youngest son, David – the chosen one. It is unclear what happened immediately after this meeting, but David somehow earned Saul’s favor when he cured his ailment by playing the lyre. How this fateful encounter came about, we do not know. Immensely grateful, the king promoted the boy and made him his armor-bearer When David came back to Bethlehem, his father sent him to check on his brothers, who were serving in the army of Israel. The fighting had stopped in the middle of another battle with the Philistines, who had offered to accept Israel’s supremacy  and become slaves under one tiny condition.  They challenged someone from the Israelite army to fight and defeat their best warrior, Goliath, in a one-on-one battle. Everybody knows what happened next.

David Great King

So, before he was made king, David was already a significant figure – the slayer of Goliath, making him insanely popular with the people of Israel. As David started gaining supporters, King Saul began to feel insecure. Saul wanted to kill David, but his attempts failed every time.  Nevertheless, he persisted, and David had to flee with his devotees to escape being massacred.  Clashes and coincidences accompanied the future king on his run.  The Philistine territory was the only place where Saul could not kill David, so he and  his men ended up living with the Philistines  for more than a year, serving as mercenaries. 

Meanwhile, the Philistines devastated Israelites in one of the bloodiest battles in the biblical  narrative. Most of Saul’s sons, including the crown prince and David’s dear friend, Jonathan,  were killed. By the whims of fate, David would inherit the throne in these decisive moments. David grieved the deaths of Saul and, especially, Jonathan. According to the ancient source, his friendship with Jonathan meant more to him than the love of women. However, David had to secure his place on the throne – and he needed to act fast. The tribes in the north had already hailed Ishbaal as their king. The northern tribes being discussed would form the separate Kingdom  of Israel a couple of decades later, while the  southern tribes would become the Kingdom of Judah.  

Ishbaal was Saul’s son, probably the last surviving one, although not the one Saul  had in mind as the future leader of his people. A man approached David, bringing him the news of Saul’s death and his royal insignia – the crown of Israel and Saul’s amulet – hoping to  be rewarded for his “favors.” The favors included killing deadly wounded King Saul, who begged for someone to end his misery so the enemy would not capture him. Unimpressed and appalled by the man’s bragging that he killed Saul, David stamped a death sentence for the man. Killing a king of Israel, a “God’s anointed” one, was a  terrible crime, and David could not tolerate it. Soon after that, a general named Abner, who had been serving under Ishbaal in the north, wanted to support David and changed sides, bringing him  an outstanding share of Ishbaal’s forces.

However, General Joab, who had been serving under David, did not trust Abner and killed him.  Soon after that, two soldiers arrived at the idea to kill Ishbaal to get rewarded by David. They slipped into Ishbaal’s room at night, murdered  him, and brought his head to David. However, David disliked traitors – even those who betrayed his enemies. Like the man who allegedly killed Saul, these two soldiers were executed for betrayal. David became the king of the whole of Israel – the northern tribes and Judah. Now, he had to make some critical changes to how the kingdom was  organized. Saul’s capital city was Hebron in Judah. David chose another city for his base: 

Jerusalem. At this point, Jerusalem was a neutral choice. It was positioned between the north and Judah and did not belong to any tribes’ territory. By doing this, David managed to unite the tribes effectively. He also had to unite the priesthood. Two different groups and their leaders,  Abiathar and Zadok, claimed the position of the  high priest of Israel. To make everyone happy, David appointed both leaders as high priests. Now that he had established the new capital, David wanted to move the sacred Tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. Some say that in Jerusalem, David danced before the Ark scantily clad or even with his private parts exposed. Others say that he was dressed but not as a king should be.  A feast followed the transfer, and everyone was joyful – except for David’s wife, Michal. She was not happy that her husband – and the king of Israel – uncovered himself in front of the crowd  “as a vulgar man” (or had not composed himself  in a kingly way).

However, David resented her criticism and rebuked her in return. Since she was so upset about her husband’s actions, he declared that he would never expose himself in front of her again. As a result, Michal remained childless. According to the Old Testament, David wanted to build a temple to serve as the home of the Ark,  but God did not. The king’s hands were too bloody to construct the sacred building. God would not allow him to do it, but at the same time, God was pleased with David’s intentions and promised him  his dynasty would last forever. David was at the peak of his power. He had just managed to achieve the unimaginable – to set up a genuinely unified kingdom under his leadership and receive an eternal covenant from God. Moreover, he made Israel victorious by defeating so many of their long-time enemies, including the Philistines.  From such heights, one can go nowhere but down. Spring was the time when “kings go out to war.”  However, David did not feel like fighting,

 So he decided to stay in Jerusalem while his army, under the command of General Joab, fought the Ammonites. The king was enjoying his leisure time and sometimes walked along the roof of his palace.  During one such stroll, he set his eyes on an exciting sight: a lovely young woman having a ritual bath. David instantly became infatuated and sent his trusted men to find out who she was and bring her to him. They did so, and after the first acquaintance with the king, the woman became pregnant. Her name was Bathsheba, and she was the wife of a Hittite named Uriah, one of Israel’s most virtuous generals. He was on the battlefield now, fighting the enemies of David’s kingdom – which meant that his wife’s  pregnancy might appear suspicious one day. David had always been bright, so he concocted  a cunning plan to conceal his wrongdoing.  He called for Uriah the Hittite and asked him for  a report on how the army was doing. Uriah gave him the news of the front, and David seemed pleased.  Instead of sending Uriah back, the king told him to go home and wash his feet – which is commonly interpreted as a euphemism for being intimate with his wife. Uriah did not do that, choosing instead to spend the night on the palace’s steps. The next day, Uriah explained to David that he could not go home and enjoy his wife while the rest of the army was having a rough time  in the field. David did not give up. He gave a feast in the evening and got Uriah drunk.  However, the soldier still would not go home.  The king had another plan. He sent Uriah back to the field and gave him a letter for Joab.  In the letter, David told Joab to put Uriah on the front lines so that he could be easily killed in battle. The plan worked; David married Bathsheba, and she gave birth to his son.  Despite this scheming, theologians regard David as a great man because, like any mortal, he was capable of making mistakes. His repentance exalted him in the ranks of the faithful. 

One day, the prophet Nathan came to David to tell him about a massive injustice in his kingdom.  A poor man had one lamb, and it was so precious to him that he treated it as if it were his daughter.  There was also a wealthy man with many sheep.  One day, the rich man wanted to feed a visitor, but instead of taking one of his countless sheep, he took the lamb that belonged to the poor man. After hearing this story, King David got angry. The rich man’s deed was outrageous, and he had to be punished.

However, this story is a parable. The rich man is David, who has stolen Uriah’s only wife, whom he loved so much, to feed his “visitor.”  The king even killed the poor man to hide his sin.  Nathan then delivered a message that, as he said, came directly from God. David would not be killed, and his dynasty would not be discontinued at this point, but he would still be punished in three ways. First, his family would always be at war, and many of his descendants would be killed violently. Next, someone would publicly sleep with David’s wife because he secretly slept with his neighbor’s wife. Finally, the child he had with Bathsheba was not going to live. The punishments soon came true. The first son of Bathsheba and David died of an illness, and shortly after that, a whole series of unfortunate  events started happening. His son, Absalom, killed David’s oldest son, Amnon, and fled from Israel.  Once David forgave him, he went to Hebron and declared himself the king of Israel. David, reluctant to fight his son, evacuated Jerusalem. 

Absalom entered the city and publicly slept with David’s concubines. In the end, though, David’s men routed Absalom in the forest of Ephraim, and Absalom was forced to escape. Here, General Joab disobeyed his master’s instructions and killed Absalom. According to the Old Testament, a deadly disease struck David’s kingdom some years later, killing seventy thousand people in three days. To  end the plague, David bought a piece of land with  a threshing floor, built an altar on the site, and  offered a sacrifice – and this is precisely where,  years later, David’s son, Solomon, would  construct the famous Temple of Jerusalem.  David’s health declined over the years, and he abdicated the throne to Solomon before his death. From the chosen boy who defeated the giant to the final sacrifice at the site of the Holy Temple, David’s story is full of twists and turns.  David was responsible for eradicating the Philistines, who did not worship the one God.  He wanted to erect a temple for the Ark. The Old Testament implie his righteousness because he referred to God in his most challenging moments. He looked to God during his battle with Goliath; when he wavered from his path, he reverted to God later in life. 

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